GW170817: The First Paired Waves of Light and Space

Date and Time

Location

Summerlee Science Complex, Room 1511

Details

Speaker

Tyson Schilbach, MSc Candidate

Abstract

The past two years have graced us with several gravitational wave signals propagating through spacetime. Until last summer we had only ever detected the merger of two black holes. However, August marked the first time we caught the gravitational waves of a neutron star pair colliding. This was particularly spectacular in that it combined gravitational waves with an electromagnetic signal. The historic event shed light on three key phenomena: gamma ray bursts, kilonovae, and heavy metals. This talk will review the aftermath of this discovery. What did we know beforehand? What did we learn? What horizons await? Come and find out!

Further Details

Coffee and donuts will be provided. Make sure to follow the Graduate Seminar Series on Facebook(External Link).

Events Archive